The present invention relates to mobile communications, more particularly to communication via wireless local area networks.
Wireless communication devices, such as cellular phones, laptop computers, pagers, personal communication systems (PCS), personal digital assistants (PDA), and the like, provide advantages of ubiquitous communication without geographic or time constraints, as well as the added security of being able to contact help in the event of an emergency. These devices provide the convenience of a handheld communication device that is capable of increased functionality. An expanding variety of additional features have become available, for example, short or multimedia messaging, multimedia playback, electronic mail, audio-video capturing, interactive gaming, data manipulation, web browsing, and the like. Other enhancements, such as, location-awareness features, e.g., global position system (GPS) tracking, enable mobile communication devices to monitor their position and display present location.
Various alternative wireless connection options have become available. One such option is connection to a wireless local area network (WLAN). Such connection provides access to the Internet and other networks. Typically, the communication device continuously searches for available wireless networks, thus consuming battery charge. A periodic searching alternative, although somewhat more energy conservative, is still wasteful. A need thus exists for a more energy efficient alternative for locating available wireless networks.
Upon identification of an available network, either a new network or a previously visited network, wireless connection of the mobile communication device thereto requires loading profile information for the network into the device and user interaction. Such process is cumbersome and time consuming. A need thus exists for an improved alternative for establishing connection to a wireless local area network.